''Colomba pasquale'' () or ''colomba di Pasqua'' () () is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

traditional

Easter bread In many European countries, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, there are various traditions surrounding the use of bread during the Easter holidays. Traditionally the practice of eating Easter bread or sweetened "communion" bread traces ...

, the

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

counterpart of the two well-known Italian Christmas desserts,

panettone Panettone is an Italian type of sweet bread and fruitcake, originally from Milan, Italy, usually prepared and enjoyed for Christmas and New Year in Western, Southern, and Southeastern Europe, as well as in South America, Eritrea, Australia, ...

and ''

pandoro ''Pandoro'' () is an Italian sweet bread, most popular around Christmas and New Year. Typically a product of the city of Verona, Veneto, ''pandoro'' traditionally has an eight-pointed shape. It is often dusted with vanilla scented icing sug ...

''. The dough for the ''colomba pasquale'' is made in a similar manner to panettone, with

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

, eggs,

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

, natural yeast, and

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

; unlike panettone, it usually contains

candied peel Candied fruit, also known as glacé fruit, is whole fruit, smaller pieces of fruit, or pieces of peel, placed in heated sugar syrup, which absorbs the moisture from within the fruit and eventually preserves it. Depending on the size and type ...

and no

raisin A raisin is a Dried fruit, dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and South Afri ...

s. The dough is then fashioned into a

dove Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

(or, ''colomba'' in

) shape and finally is topped with

pearl sugar Nib sugar (also pearl sugar and hail sugar) is a product of refined white sugar. The sugar is very coarse, hard, opaque white, and does not melt at temperatures typically used for baking. The product usually is made by crushing blocks of white s ...

and

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

s before being baked. Some manufacturers produce other versions, including a popular bread topped with chocolate. The ''colomba pasquale'' was commercialised by Dino Villani, who worked as the advertising director for the Milanese company Motta, which was already famous for its Christmas speciality, panettone. Villani had the idea to create an Easter sweet bread using the same machinery and the same dough as panettone. The owner of Motta, Milanese baker and businessman Angelo Motta, sent the new creation to many journalists and writers to test the new creation and it was met with wide success. As a result, another Milanese company, Vergani, followed suit making ''colomba'' there in 1944.

References

Sweet breads Yeast breads Easter bread Italian breads Italian desserts Almond dishes Easter traditions in Italy Cuisine of Lombardy {{Italy-cuisine-stub

See also

References